CNA classes in Raleigh, North Carolina
The Raleigh metro has 25 state-approved CNA programs, from $219 to $1,100, taking about 5 to 19 weeks. Once you’re certified, you can start earning a median of $19.09/hr at one of the Raleigh-area employers mapped on this page: hospitals, nursing homes, home-health agencies, hospices, and assisted-living communities.
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- North Carolina-approved programs only
- Data verified July 10 2026
CNA programs in the Raleigh area
If you are training in Raleigh, Wake Technical Community College is the route most people take: its NAS-101 course leads onto the North Carolina Nurse Aide I Registry, and you can take it at any of four Wake County campuses. At the Perry Health Sciences Campus you are next door to WakeMed’s flagship hospital, so your clinical rotations are steps from the classroom. If Smithfield is the shorter drive, Johnston Community College teaches the same Nurse Aide I course southeast of Raleigh. All 25 programs below are state-approved, spanning Raleigh plus nearby Smithfield and Clayton. 13 of them publish tuition, from $219 to $1,100: the least expensive is Johnston Community College at $219, the highest Shades of Purple at $1,100. The other 12 list cost by request. Every published price is tuition, so budget for the exam (about $140), a background check, and scrubs unless they’re bundled. If price decides it, start from the cheapest and check start dates; if you need evenings or weekends, 0 programs run evening classes and 0 offer weekends.
| Program | City | Format | Length | Total Cost | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care One Health Training Institute Inc. | Raleigh | Hybrid | 5 wk | $1,050 | ||
| Care One Health Training Institute Inc. – Hybrid | Raleigh | Hybrid | Contact school | $1,050 | ||
| Diversified Healthcare Training Institute | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | $1,000 | ||
| Johnston Community College – Cleveland Campus | Clayton | Hybrid | Contact school | $219 | ||
| Johnston Community College – Main Campus | Smithfield | Hybrid | Contact school | $219 | ||
| Legacy U Healthcare Consulting & Training Center | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | $849 | ||
| NCALC Nurse Aide I Training Program | Raleigh | In-person | 8 wk | $800 | ||
| SembraSchool Nurse Aide I Program | Raleigh | In-person | Contact school | $1,049 | ||
| Shades of Purple | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | $1,100 | ||
| Wake Technical Community College – North | Raleigh | In-person | 19 wk | $300 | ||
| Wake Technical Community College – PHSC | Raleigh | In-person | Contact school | $300 | ||
| Wake Technical Community College – PSEC | Raleigh | In-person | 8 wk | $300 | ||
| Wake Technical Community College – VMCCA | Raleigh | In-person | Contact school | $300 | ||
| Atlantic Coast Healthcare Institute, Inc. | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Classic Training Academy | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Duke Raleigh Hospital | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Guiding Lights Nurse Aide I Program | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Harmony Health Career Training Institute | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| HealthCore Resource School | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Hope of Solace Institute | Smithfield | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Hope of Solace Institute | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| International Nurses School, Inc. | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Providence Training Institute, Inc. | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Research Triangle College of Health Sciences & Technology | Raleigh | N/A | Contact school | Contact school | ||
| Wake Technical Community College – Main Campus | Raleigh | In-person | Contact school | Contact school |
Cheapest CNA classes in Raleigh
The cheapest CNA class in the Raleigh area is Johnston Community College at $219, followed by Wake Technical Community College at $300 and NCALC Nurse Aide I Training Program at $800. The catch with those seats is what the price includes: at Johnston Community College and the options near it, that rate is usually tuition only, so confirm whether the state exam, background check, and scrubs are extra before you choose on price alone.
| Program | City | Length | Total Cost | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnston Community College – Cleveland Campus | Clayton | Contact school | $219 | ||
| Wake Technical Community College – North | Raleigh | 19 wk | $300 | ||
| NCALC Nurse Aide I Training Program | Raleigh | 8 wk | $800 | ||
| Legacy U Healthcare Consulting & Training Center | Raleigh | Contact school | $849 | ||
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| Diversified Healthcare Training Institute | Raleigh | Contact school | $1,000 | ||
| SembraSchool Nurse Aide I Program | Raleigh | Contact school | $1,049 | ||
| Care One Health Training Institute Inc. | Raleigh | 5 wk | $1,050 | ||
| Shades of Purple | Raleigh | Contact school | $1,100 | ||
Is the cheapest class the best value?
Not always. The $219 sticker is really about $359 once you add the roughly $140 exam, plus a background check and scrubs, and the cheapest programs rarely bundle any of that. And a faster program like Care One Health Training Institute Inc. (5 weeks, $1050) that costs more but finishes in weeks rather than months can be the better deal if getting to work quickly matters more than saving on tuition.
Ways to pay
Get reimbursed after you’re hired. You may qualify for pro-rata reimbursement of eligible training costs if a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing home hires you within 12 months of paying for your own training (federal rule 42 CFR 483.152). Ask the facility how it handles reimbursement.
Local help paying for class. The NCWorks Career Centers serving Wake County can help cover training costs through WIOA if you qualify; ask whether your chosen program is on the WIOA-eligible training list before you enroll.
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Where CNAs work in Raleigh
Raleigh’s CNA hiring is dominated by three health systems: WakeMed, UNC Health Rex, and Duke Health. WakeMed, the largest private employer in Wake County, leads from its New Bern Avenue campus. UNC Health Rex hires nursing assistants straight into its Raleigh skilled nursing facility, not just its acute-care hospital. Duke Health runs Duke Raleigh Hospital and has a second inpatient campus under construction in Cary. PruittHealth-Raleigh anchors long-term-care hiring on the south side. The 55 Raleigh-area employers below span 11 hospitals and health systems, 13 skilled nursing and rehab centers, 11 home-health agencies, 8 hospice providers, 12 assisted-living communities. Hospitals cluster in Raleigh itself, while the list also reaches Cary, Garner and Smithfield. Each listing links to that employer’s careers page.
Hospitals (11)
Nursing homes & skilled nursing (13)
Home health agencies (11)
Hospice care (8)
Assisted living (12)
These employers hire CNAs across the Raleigh metro. Get matched to a program near where you want to work.
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What CNAs earn in Raleigh
Depending on your setting and experience, expect somewhere between $14.74 and $22.95 an hour (the 10th to 90th percentile across the Raleigh metro).
At $19.09/hr, Raleigh pays a little above the North Carolina statewide median of $18.49.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, Raleigh-Cary NC metro area (OEWS area 39580)
What moves you up the range
Your pay depends more on setting, shift, and experience than on the city itself. The 55 Raleigh-area employers below span hospitals, skilled nursing, home health, and hospice (WakeMed Raleigh Campus and WakeMed Cary Hospital), and each sets its own rates and schedules, so compare a few listings on this page against the median above before you take the first offer.
Where you’ll take the CNA exam near Raleigh
North Carolina’s nurse aide competency exam is run by Credentia. Finish a state-approved program first, then register and schedule the written and skills test through Credentia’s CNA365 platform. The exam runs about $140. You get 24 months and up to 3 attempts after finishing training. Passing lists you on the North Carolina Nurse Aide I Registry.
Raleigh-area test sites
You’ll most likely test at one of these approved test sites, which regularly host nurse aide competency testing (sites verified July 10, 2026). North Carolina’s live test-site list and open dates live inside Credentia’s CNA365 system; confirm the current site and seats there.
Raleigh CNA questions
How we verify this page
We build this page from the North Carolina Nurse Aide I Registry and approved-training guide (which programs are state-approved), each program’s own published materials (cost, hours, and schedule), Credentia (the state exam), and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (pay). Tuition and fees change and aren’t guaranteed here, so confirm the current cost directly with the school before you enroll.
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